Of Leaf and Sand
by sholmesley
Summary: AU fic featuring Lee and Gaara. Setting is the darker side of high school in the US. Will be violent.
1. Bloodshed

Of Leaf and Sand

Not your usual high school AU fic

Ch. 1: Bloodshed

Gaara glanced up at the halogens lighting the hallway, and listened for the target's movement. Beside him Kankuro and Temari were busy checking over their guns, making sure they were fully loaded and unlikely to jam in the middle of the firefight that was soon to happen. He tilted his head away from the hallway and one green eye lazily met those of his elder brother.

Kankuro winced, ducking down further as if to escape Gaara's gaze.

_Dammit- looks like his bloodlust is beginning to take over. Hope he doesn't totally lose it this time, _he thought sourly. Beside him Temari twitched in acknowledgement of Gaara's impending lapse of sanity. They sighed in unison.

Further down the unimpressive office hallway footsteps could be heard. Foolishly, they were running toward them. Kankuro didn't have much sympathy for the idiots.

Gaara smiled at the sound and stood, smoothly drawing his guns level with his shoulders and faced the echo of running feet. The rush was always the best part- heart pumping, adrenaline rushing through his system, the single-minded focus that he could rarely reach otherwise- it never failed to make Gaara feel alive. He knew his siblings hated it when he got like this, but he couldn't help it- there was just something about the blood. He licked his lips and waited.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

A nerve-wracking firefight later they ran out of the front of the office building to the long sleek limo that was waiting for them. As it pulled away from the scene the siblings roughly yanked off their head coverings. Predictably Gaara's was covered in blood.

Kankuro's nose wrinkled at the sickly sweet smell. _Almost makes it pointless to have the front of these things covered with Kabuki designs _he thought grumpily. Turning to the other occupant of the vehicle he received a smirk from the lanky man in the Armani suit.

He snorted in reply, passing his weapon to Temari when she tapped his knee impatiently. Leaning back he grabbed his now squashed pack of smokes and lit one, breathing in deep. He could feel his little brother's eyes on him in a silent demand.

"Ok Shukaku, target has been nullified and the files will be handed over when we see the shipment. As per our usual agreement." He couldn't help smiling darkly at Shukaku's greedy look. His manicured fingers twitched. _Oh, he wants this information baaaad. Almost makes it worth the frustration._

Ten minutes later the limousine pulled up to the prearranged drop-off point at the city's industrial district. The smell of gasoline, random chemicals, smoke and grease filled the air and as they left the comfortable limo Kankuro and Temari took in a grateful breath. Gaara simply twitched, still semi-lost to his bloodlust. Temari gently took him by the shoulders and led him over to the non-descript silver SUV that was waiting for them.

Kankuro turned and gave a mock bow in Shukaku's direction, motioning him to lead.

As the bay doors of the concrete building opened Kankuro wondered to himself, not for the first time, why they kept doing this. They didn't have to- and Shukaku could easily get others to do his dirty work for him with how well he paid. He supposed it had to be habit, and the all-encompassing feeling that he couldn't live a normal life. Him or his siblings.

He glowered at himself and shoved the thought to the back of his mind instead concentrating on the task at hand.

Which just happened to be several kilos of cocaine and weed, not to mention the briefcase full of unmarked bills to the tune of $50,000. That part was just a bonus- Shukaku's way of saying: "Nice job! I love your work!" and a heavy handed "Thank you." Smiling, he reached into his jacket, pulled out the deceptively small flash drive and tossed it to the practically drooling man.

Shukaku smiled and Kankuro was eerily reminded of his brother in thrall to blood-lust.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Shukaku," he said, reaching over and testing the merchandise out of formality. He knew it was good, it always was. As underlings of the Sand gang began moving the drugs to be transported he simply stood by and watched as the limo drove away and back to the city proper, Shukaku leaving without preamble.

_How long can we keep doing this?_

His cigarette had no answer, not that he expected it to. Walking over to the SUV he swung open the front seat and hopped in. Baki, the man who usually took care of the drug part of their "enterprise" fixed him with a look. It was his "your brother has gotten blood all over my upholstery again dammit!" patented expression. Kankuro weakly grinned and shrugged in response.

Baki sighed in frustration and started the car, driving them home.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Inching their way to the apartment they called home Kankuro winced with every step he took. _Damn my feet fuckin' hurt_ he groused. He supposed it was due to the long-ass run they'd had to do to avoid making any recognizable tire tracks near the target. Still, it sucked. He knew Temari and Gaara had gotten hit too, and he finally brought down his emotional shields that had been damming up his concern. The rush of combined fury and worry took him by surprise. He scowled.

"That is the last time we're doing that."

Temari snickered. "You always say that after a job, 'Kuro." Hefting Gaara's arm more securely over her shoulder she shot Kankuro an apologetic look. "We'll talk about it later. Promise."

"I'm keeping you to that," he snarled, not pacified in the least. Between them Gaara groaned, fists clenching weakly at their shoulders. Kankuro and Temari clutched his arms back, reassuring voicelessly their presence to him.

_He's gonna have some fucked-up nightmares tonight. Dammit. We should stop this shit if only for his sake._ Worry curled up in his stomach, making him nauseous. He always worried that some day, Gaara wouldn't come back to them. It had almost happened once, and Kankuro had no desire to ever have it happen again.

Reaching the slightly battered apartment door Temari shifted Gaara over to him, fished in her pocket for the keys and opened it. Taking Gaara's full weight Kankuro walked him unsteadily over to the couch as their sister turned off the alarm system. Sinking down into the cushioning Kankuro began a full body check of his little brother, looking for his injuries. When his questing fingers found nothing he blinked in surprise. He looked at his sister, confused.

"Didn't he get hit? I thought I saw him get shot earlier."

Temari shook her now unbound blond locks. "He did, but it was just a graze. I think it was his lower left side."

He nodded in thanks, then began the less-than-pleasant process of peeling Gaara's long leather jacket away from him.

"Fucking stupid leather piece of shit! I fucking hate his coat! I swear one of these days I'm just going to burn it."

His sister's laughter wasn't helping. "We both know he'd just go out and get another one."

"It would still make me feel better," he sulked, finally tearing the blood-soaked leather away from his brother's too pale skin.

Temari reached out and took the grisly garment away from him, placing it in a plastic bag for clean-up later. Or disposal, the way her brother was going on about it.

Kankuro looked at her, eyes appraising. "Fess up, sis- where did you get shot? Because I know you did- I'm the one in charge of emergency clean-up remember?"

She sighed, clearly remembering him following the two of them with the ammonia solution and his unhappy glare boring holes in the back of her neck during the job.

"Same side, bullet went straight through. It's just a deep flesh wound, nothing serious." _Although it hurts like a bitch_ she amended in her head.

Kankuro glared and motioned her over to sit beside Gaara on his right. He took out the disinfectant and she winced, but bared her midriff anyway.

As he began working on her wound she focused on Gaara, who seemed to be coming out of his blood-induced haze. His right hand reached out, searching for hers and she grasped it warmly in her own.

"Hey little brother," she spoke quietly, running her thumb in circles on his hand. He blinked, rolling his head over to face her. _Damn his eyes are still dilated, not good._ She gave him a wan smile.

"Hey. We're home?" His raspy voice sounded confused.

"Yeah," Kankuro answered. "You hungry?"

A frown, then a shake of the head in the negative. His color was starting to come back and he took a deep breath, eyes closing and head resting against the couch.

"The payment go through ok?"

"Yes." Temari answered this time.

Gaara nodded, then made an anxious face.

Both siblings stiffened, worried.

Gaara groaned and fit his left hand over his forehead, oblivious to his siblings frantic expressions.

"I got blood on Baki's SUV didn't I? Dammit, I told him I wouldn't do that again!"

His siblings blinked at him. Temari burst out laughing first, and Kankuro's chuckles filled the room soon after.

Gaara glared at them, lips pursed in irritation.

"It's not _that_ funny," he huffed.

Temari just leaned her head on his shoulder, still giggling. She kissed him on the cheek, squeezing his hand.

"Glad you're back."

He gave her a small smile in return, wincing as he felt his side. "Ow."

His brother snickered evilly. "Hurts doesn't it?"

Temari glared at him and mimed a punch to his skull.

It was good to be home.


	2. Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today

Firefights always look so pretty on television- choreographed, small amounts of blood, no screaming or smoke billowing from various bullet-damaged vehicles. No gasoline flavored ash clogging the air either. No, gunfights on TV are almost enjoyable to watch.

Until you experience one.

Bullet wounds are ghastly to look at and much, much worse to personally live through. Bullets don't leave nice neat holes that trickle blood. Oh no- they forcibly _carve_ flesh away from the body. Maybe the entrance wound is small, but that small bit of metal has to go somewhere. And as a general rule you're better off if a bullet doesn't get lodged inside you- even if the resulting scar more closely resembles a golf divot than human flesh.

And oh yes, people _scream_. They scream and screech and shriek from the horrific pain- because bullets can ricochet inside the body.

_It's no wonder I can't sleep, what with that running through my head._

Naruto Uzumaki, also known as "that crazy kid- get him _away_ from the power tools!" wandered down dark streets to his favorite haunt. It was an old abandoned playground situated right beside a broken-down church. Naruto was fairly sure it had been a Catholic one before the shootout, but he wasn't one for religion and had never asked around to be sure. Some of the metal fixtures in the playground had old blood stains on them, and it was generally believed the place was haunted by the kids who had died here. The place was perfect when you just wanted to get away from everyone and everything, and Naruto didn't mind the ghosts.

He shivered in the cold, putting his hands in his pockets. He couldn't sleep. _Again_. His breath exited his body in a gusty sigh. _I'm starting to become an insomniac!_

As a general rule he liked sleep. He liked sleep a LOT. A wistful smile crossed his face as he pictured his very comfy bed back home. He _really_ liked sleep.

Kicking a rock that had foolishly jumped into his path, bright blue eyes watched it skip crazily across the pavement. _Stupid nightmares! It's not fair._

Eyes still following the rock as it stopped bouncing, he noticed a pair of shoes sitting where _his_ shoes normally took up space at his favorite "Brooding Spot." Lifting his gaze he accepted the fact that the shoes were attached to legs which led to the inevitable conclusion that there was going to be a torso, arms and head to follow soon after.

What he did not accept was that the person who was attached to all those body parts was one and the same with the red-haired _bastard_ who had tried to _kill him_ about a year ago and was the _cause_ for his damn nightmares that wouldn't let him sleep _god damn him!_

Indignation, fury, confusion and annoyance flew through his body (in exactly that order). He growled his frustration at the huddled figure.

This earned him a gun (specifically an Uzi if he wasn't mistaken) in his face and wild aqua orbs defiantly staring into his, madness skittering across their surface.

Naruto paused, noting the make and custom work on the gun. Very nice- obviously quite personal. He liked the hourglass designs that had been placed onto the hilt and sides of the barrel.

And at least the bastard had moved out of _his_ spot. Although it was a little unnerving to know that he could move that fast. He considered growling again just for good measure, but the twitchy finger of _that red-haired bastard_ convinced him that it might not be a good idea to do so.

"You're a jerk!" he stated instead. Loudly, and with feeling. But mostly just very loudly.

The Uzi twitched and leaped away from his face like a startled rabbit. In its place a pale delicate hand rushed to point at his nose.

"I know you."

The flat, almost dead tone heaped more annoyance onto Naruto's psyche. His brain promptly melted into angry goo; drowning his sanity and good sense.

Which usually accounted for a lot of the (self-admittedly) crazy things he tended to do.

"I sure as hell HOPE so!" he blustered, even more furious than before, "You tried to _kill_ me last year you frakking git!"

To retaliate properly to the rudely pointing hand Naruto raised his opposite hand to point back at the "frakking git."

The pointing went on for another five minutes.

Still wearing his trademark glare Naruto took the time to really look at the other boy. He was skinny; well, he _looked_ skinny due to the rather dark and baggy t-shirt coupled with too large jeans hanging off his small frame. He had bags under his eyes and his skin was far too pale. His hair looked like it had gotten into a fight with a weed whacker and lost: random chunks were shorter or longer than others in an almost endearing haphazard manner. It looked like it hadn't been washed in a while either.

In short- he looked pathetic.

_Well damn, how in the hell can I stay mad at someone who looks like a depressed hedgehog?_

_... _

_Dammit!_

Mind made up, he asked the first question that came to mind.

"When was the last time you ate?" Naruto did his best to use Iruka-Dad's sternest voice.

The random question apparently took the other off-guard. Wide aqua eyes blinked once in confusion and the hand that had begun to tremble dropped back to the smaller boys side. "What?"

Naruto let his hand drop as well and put both fists on his hips, leaning toward the other. "I _said_ when was the last time you ate? You know, had food? You look frakkin' terrible!"

It seemed all this kid could do was blink. Naruto sighed again, then reached out to grab the red-head's hand. "Come on. And put that away," he gestured to the Uzi, "you won't need it at IHOP. They get irritated when someone brings in a gun. They're so frakking sensitive! And you ARE hungry right?" He narrowed his eyes at the dark circles under the kid's eyes. "And you need to sleep more too- you look like a zombie. Your name is Gaara Sabaku right?" He stared at him until he got a nod from the wide-eyed teen. "Oh good. My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, in case you forgot. The hell are you doing out here at three in the morning anyway?"

Pausing in his frantic glances between the hand that was holding his and the boy that was now pulling him along like a talkative tugboat Gaara gathered his scattered thoughts together enough to answer. "Couldn't sleep."

Naruto nodded, shaggy blonde hair whipping along with the movement. "Yeah, me neither. Frakking nightmares," he leveled a weary glare on Gaara again, "which I have _you _to thank for by the way. You can be one scary git."

More with the blinking of the eyes, which seemed preoccupied with staring from his hand to his face and back again.

Naruto's lips twisted into a frown. "You're not a very talkative person are you."

A slow dazed shake of a russet head in the negative.

He prosaically shrugged. "Meh, at least you're not telling me to shut up- so I guess you're all right."

A shrug from slim shoulders in response. "Your voice is nice."

This comment brought Naruto to a halt and he turned to face Gaara, mouth gaping in surprise. "What? Really?"

A nod. "Yes, it reminds me of my brothers' voice."

This brought a smile to the spiky blonde, and he turned around to continue tugging Gaara along to IHOP.

"Did you know that today is National Pancake Day?"

This was how the odd friendship between Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara Sabaku began.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The kid was frakking _weird;_ Naruto just couldn't understand him. He kept muttering and Naruto was sure the red-head was NOT talking to him. That and he was obviously paranoid- the frantic and twitchy eyes sort of gave it away.

People always thought Naruto was oblivious and stupid, like he couldn't understand why 2 plus 2 equaled 4… and he _liked_ it that way. People tended to talk a lot more when they thought they wouldn't be understood. And Naruto had gotten amazingly good at reading body language too- people said so, _so_ much without saying a word. So thankfully, due to his not-obliviousness and uncanny insight into silent body signals, Naruto deduced that Gaara was all sorts of Fucked Up. Majorly so actually- it was almost physically painful to watch him interact with normal, not-nearly-as-messed-up people.

So Naruto talked for him. And enough for at least a three-person conversation, but Gaara honestly didn't seem to mind. Which was good because his odd behavior was making the waitress twitchy. So Naruto did what he did best: he distracted him.

"So Gaara- hey, can I call you Gaara or do you want me to call you something else?" Waiting for the addressed to react Naruto tried to decide between the Very Awesome blueberry pancakes or the strawberry crepe Goodness. He went with his gut and the Very Awesome blueberry pancakes as he took in the sight of Gaara nodding his head yes in his periphery vision.

"Gaara is fine." Again with the no inflection. Freaky as hell.

"Oh good; so anyways do you have a favorite type of pancake? I like the blueberry myself."

"I don't know." Gaara's voice, just for a second, sounded vaguely puzzled and achingly lost.

That got his full attention. Ripping his happily meandering gaze away from the over-sized menu he stared at the too-skinny red-head. "What? What do you mean you don't know? Haven't you ever had pancakes before?" Blue eyes took in the angle of the slim shoulders. Defensive, too much so- might need to back off a bit.

Gaara shook his head. "No."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to change that- I'll order two different kinds and you order two different kinds and you'll just try a bit of each to see which you like best." Naruto nodded, pleased with his Obviously Awesome Plan. "I like them all so whichever you don't like I'll eat, okay?"

More with the blinking. It was kind of cute actually, so he smiled at him with his most comforting grin.

"Ok." This time the stare was just a little less suspicious than the one before it.

He could work with that.

&&&&&&&&&&

A few months later and Naruto found he could not sleep. So, always one for routine, he made his way back to the creepy playground within the depths of the city. For some reason the place relaxed him and calmed him enough to sleep. He supposed the kid ghosts felt sorry for him- not that he was superstitious or anything.

And who should be there at the dead of night but Gaara Sabaku. He slowly made his way over to the other teen and silently sat beside him. Somehow, this night called for silence.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?"

Or maybe not.

For some bizarre reason such a deep gravely voice coming from such a small guy didn't seem strange at all. It fit him, unlike the clothes he was wearing. Naruto, giving the red-head a once over, thought he saw bandages peeking out of the long-sleeved shirt Gaara had donned.

"Why do you have bandages on your arms?" he retorted, folding his across his chest.

Gaara blinked and looked down, reaching out a hand to trace the slightly blood-stained cloths. "I scratched at myself. Why aren't you afraid of me?" he repeated, gaze now boring holes into Naruto's head.

Bulkier shoulders shrugged under the large orange sweatshirt. "I dunno. You don't have that 'I'm about to kill you' look I guess." He leaned back onto his elbows, staring at the patch of sky, counting the stars for a bit. He could feel the git staring at him. It was starting to get annoying. "Why? Should I be?" he challenged.

"You're the only one who doesn't look at me with fear in their eyes."

The soft admission startled Naruto into sitting up. He did some staring of his own for a moment, then sighed, looking away.

"I'm the only one huh? I thought you had, like, siblings or something."

"I do."

That made him face the other again, and for a moment he stared at the side of Gaara's head, utterly shocked. "They're scared of you? But-but- they're _family!"_

And the kid just shrugged a shoulder, like it was nothing! That one action made his jaw drop. And Naruto, being Naruto, just couldn't leave well enough alone.

"But- _why?_ You didn't threaten to kill them or something did you?!"

A blank stare, then a slow nod. "Once; before Father died."

Like it was fucking normal to be talking about threatening your siblings with death in an abandoned playground at two in the morning. Naruto's mind boggled over that for a bit.

"B-but… didn't you tell them you didn't mean it?!"

Ooh, an eyebrow this time, progress in facial expression!

"But I did mean it."

Naruto could _feel_ his brain twitch. This was a bit much for two in the fucking morning. "Do you mean it _now?" _ He could feel the outrage thrum through his body.

"No." Okay, that no inflection thing _had_ to go. He swore he could feel an aneurism building in his head.

Naruto waved his hands in exasperation, noting in a distant part of his mind that Gaara's green eyes followed every movement like a hawk. "Did you tell _them_ that?! It's kind of something they'd want to know!"

"It is?" FINALLY! Actual surprise this time! Not much mind you, but a little bit! It was there, he heard it!

"YES!" He jumped up and found himself looking down the barrel of an Uzi again. He pushed it exasperatedly out of the way and glared at him. "Of course they'd want to know- otherwise they'll think you haven't changed at all! It's kind of important!"

"I've…changed?"

He deserved a gold star for not slapping his hand over his face in exasperation, he really did. A big one. He groaned instead. "Uh, _yeah._ Otherwise I wouldn't be hanging out with you right now. Geeze, for someone who is supposed to be a genius you sure are hella dumb."

"I've changed." There was a slight bit of wonder in his deep voice, and that caught Naruto's attention.

He crouched down, eye level to him, and tilted his head. "Yeah, you're not the same kid who tried to kill me two years ago. I mean, you actually have inflection in your voice and stuff! And you've had pancakes, where two years ago you hadn't. And," he put his finger to his chin in thought, folding his other arm over the other elbow, "you haven't shot at me yet, that's an improvement!"

Green eyes stared at the Uzi still clenched in his grip. "It's not loaded," he admitted quietly.

Blue eyes stared appraisingly. "Was it last time?"

"Yes."

Yikes. Not terribly surprising, but still- _yikes._

Face furrowed into a frown, causing his scars to scrunch up he asked "Ever thought about seeing a psychiatrist?"

And there was the Uzi again. His arms wind milled and he fell backward, landing with an "Oof!"

"That wasn't an insult- I'm serious!" He spoke to the stars, which were a lot less threatening at the moment. "They really help and stuff. Hell, I've been seeing one for like, _ever."_

Silence, then a rustling of clothing, and red hair appeared, green eyes looking at him upside down. "I don't like talking to people."

Naruto huffed, folding his arms and not getting up. He repressed the urge to poke at Gaara's nose. "Not surprised. I think this is the most you've spoken to me since we've met."

For the past two years Gaara had searched him out from time to time. Mostly the kid just sat and stared at him weirdly, but lately…

Gaara, for all his psychoses, really reminded him of Sasuke. It made him sad, and drove him to help the quiet red head when he could. He could see the hurt Gaara held inside him, and it made him ache too.

Silence reigned, Naruto becoming drowsy as he counted the stars again, cold air a comfort against his hot skin.

"Does it help?" A quiet monotone.

Blinking, Naruto sat up to look at Gaara, propping himself up on his elbows.

Who was staring at the Uzi cradled in his lap, tracing gentle fingers along the barrel, up and down, up and down, soothing and constant.

He laid back down. "Yeah, it does."

Two days later and Iruka-dad was calling his psychiatrist, asking if he could take on another patient.

&&&&&

Next time it was Gaara who found him sitting on a swing at the playground. Naruto raised aching red eyes and watched as the small and lithe red head walked carefully closer. He sniffed, rubbing at his tear-stained face.

"Naruto?" This time, the monotone had a different note in it- worry.

He hiccupped. "Yeah?" Voice sounding like he'd eaten carpenter's nails.

A hand, pale and small and _warm,_ settled on his shoulder- resting there. "Why are you crying?"

If one was just going by voice inflection, they would think that Gaara couldn't care less about the answer one way or the other. Naruto knew better. The fact that he'd _asked_ at _all _said everything. Gaara was trying his damndest to be a friend- and yeah, he'd needed a list of things that Friends Do For Each Other, but he'd _memorized _it and _tried._

Naruto hiccupped again. "S-Sasuke keeps having nightmares- and I _can't help him!_ T-the bastard won't _LET_ me!" He wailed and leaned forward, arms wrapping tightly to the lithe yet so strong form that didn't move away.

Gaara said nothing and let him, simply pulling them both to the ground, Naruto wrapping himself around him, head burrowed into his stomach. He laid the flat of his hand against the broad plane of Naruto's back and moved it in slow circles.

They stayed like that until Naruto was numb. He shook, and hugged Gaara. "Thanks," he muttered, slowly sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.

A bandana found it's way under his nose. "Here."

He gave a weak chuckle. "You carry these things on you?"

A blank stare. "I never know when someone is going to try and kill me. It is good to have makeshift bandages around."

He sighed. "Or weepy friends."

A sage nod from the red head.

He pursed his lips, then shrugged, wiping his nose. Gaara waved him away when he made to give it back.

"Keep it."

They relaxed into silence for a while, then once again, Gaara took his rightful position in left field.

"I want to go to high school."

Naruto blinked and did some serious staring of his own. "Eh? I thought, you know, you had your GED and stuff."

Another nod. "I do." He elaborated at Naruto's "The Hell?" look. "I… I want to know what it's like to be… normal. To… act my age." He stared at his hands, twisting the W.W.N.D. (What Would Naruto Do- unpatented) bracelet Naruto had given to him as a joke- teasing him about his habit of asking Naruto what he should do almost constantly. He had yet to take it off.

"Oh. M'kay… Like, you mean as in… now?" Blue eyes watched as Gaara twisted the roughly made trinket.

"Yes."

A light turned on. "You want to go to my school don't you." It wasn't a question- merely a statement of soon-to-be fact.

"Yes."

Naruto sighed. "All right- but my crew can get pretty crazy. They still think you're nutters you know."

"I know."

"And you're ok with that?" disbelief coloring his tone.

"No- but…" a sigh, then bright green eyes bored into his own. "I want to try- try and… and make new bonds. Be more than j-just… just some weapon."

His jaw fell slack, then, because he could, because Gaara _let_ him now- he pulled the smaller boy into a tight hug.

"'Kay. Why don't you-" he cleared his throat, tears threatening again for wholly different reasons, "why don't you arrive on National Hug Day? There'll be a welcoming committee and stuff for you." He paused, feeling Gaara shiver, "Does your sister or brother know?"

"Just Temari," his voice muffled. "She's all for it. Said she'll make the arrangements and everything for me."

"Good."

Later- Naruto fell to sleep with a lighter heart, shoulders still feeling the burden of Sasuke… but hopeful that someday… maybe…

Maybe Sasuke would accept his help too.


	3. School Daze

First Day of School, aka Kankuro is NOT a Morning Person 

"Morning little bro." Kankuro stretched out on the couch, the TV droning on in the background. He sleepily swung an arm over the back of the black monstrosity and gave Gaara a bleary stare. "What 'cha doin'?"

"Going out. I'll be back after three." He walked over to the coat rack and grabbed his keys, wallet and jacket.

"Oh." Kankuro yawned. "Where you going then?"

"School. Baki is dropping me off and picking me up."

His older brother nodded, slid his arm off the couch and went back to watching his show.

Gaara waited, smirking to himself. _Honestly- Kankuro is terrible. It's a good thing I don't usually have the inclination to take advantage of his morning impaired thinking skills._

The couch squawked in protest as the bulky man shot up from his prone position. "_School?_ What do you mean 'school'! You were home schooled!"

_Ah, there we go. Ten seconds- better than his usual morning reaction time._ Gaara had figured out years ago that his older brother had two phases: Awake Kankuro and Morning Kankuro. Morning Kankuro was an idiot with a very slow mental processing time. Awake Kankuro was just an idiot.

He and Temari had adjusted.

He turned and faced his spluttering sibling. "I meant what I said. Have you had coffee yet?"

All he received in answer was a glare and a muttered, "No."

As Gaara walked to the kitchen he heard the door to Temari's room open and close. _Oh good, she is awake. Maybe she will explain so I am not too late for my first day._ He reached for the coffee filters and proceeded to make a full pot for his muzzy-headed brother. He spotted Temari smirking at him from the corner of his eye as he was filling the pot with water. He frowned in response.

She chuckled, leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Good morning little brother, making coffee for Kankuro?"

He nodded, turning on the machine and grabbing a cup from the "coffee cups ONLY!" cupboard, then turned and hugged her. "Happy national hugging day sister." He smirked after releasing her. "Not that coffee will help much. He'll still be an idiot."

"HEY! I heard that!"

Temari snickered. After a moment she set her hand on Gaara's shoulder. "Hmm, so today is the day, huh? You doing all right?"

He paused and stared at the coffee maker slowly dripping coffee. "I'm not sure. I think I am nervous." After taking a breath he reached up and gently gripped her hand. "I will be all right. I want to do this." He knew she was frowning at him but he ignored it. He heard her sigh, and loosened his grip.

Kankuro stumbled into the kitchen, hanging onto a counter for balance. "School? Are you freaking serious!"

Gaara turned a blank stare on him. "Do you disapprove?"

His elder brother visibly reeled back at his question. "Wha-? No! I- I just, fuck man- you hate people! I'm just confused as to why you'd _want_ to do this is all."

Slim shoulders shrugged in response. "I want to know what it's like to be normal. Even if all I'm doing is observing such behavior from my age group." He busied himself with the refrigerator, grabbing the creamer while he waited out the 'awkward pause.' Surprisingly it was Kankuro who recovered first.

"Gaara." His voice was a surprised whisper. He recovered himself after a moment. "Normal is over-fucking-rated. And if anyone gives you crap you call me, you got that?"

Gaara's response was a fierce hug, delivered to a very shocked Kankuro.

"I love you too. I will be careful. I will call if I need you." Lifting himself up by using his brothers broad shoulders as leverage he placed a careful kiss on his cheek, then turned and made his way out of the apartment.

Kankuro took the cup his sister presented to him, blinking rapidly. Sniffing the dark brew, he looked from the sludge to Temari.

"What the fuck?"

She just snickered at him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The actual ride to the school was uneventful- Baki had shot him a pointed look at his (still!) bloodstained backseat, but otherwise kept silent. Gaara busied himself with watching the city flow by through the windows. It took them ten minutes to get to the property and to Gaara's bemused surprise he realized his heart rate had sped up as the high school came into view. _I guess I am nervous after all._

There was a group standing outside the double doors. A tall blonde haired boy was waving his arms over his head and appeared to be yelling something before grabbing a boy with fair skin and long dark hair and pulling him into a hug. Baki twitched, and turned to look at Gaara.

Gaara shrugged. "I was told there would be a 'welcoming committee' for me today."

This didn't seem to set his old guardians' mind at ease, if anything it made him twitch a bit more.

Gaara slanted a look over at him as he grabbed his backpack. "They are safe. I will be fine."

"You don't have any weapons!" the older man finally spluttered, hands making nervous waving gestures in Gaara's general direction. He was obviously upset about him walking into what he perceived as a trap.

"Neither do they. I will see you after three." Argument settled, he opened the door and stepped out, closing the SUV door firmly behind him. The vehicle refused to budge, but he ignored it and began walking toward the group.

The yellow-haired youth stopped shouting and turned to face him. The others behind him had frozen, mouths agape and eyes wide.

"GAARA!" The ear-splitting yell was followed up with the orange-clad teen sprinting toward him and tackling him in a bear hug. "HAPPY NATIONAL HUGGING DAY!"

"I am standing right here Naruto. There is no need to yell in my ear." He was pretty sure he could hear the 'click' of a gun being cocked. Baki was so paranoid. "Happy national hugging day to you as well." He felt a rib creak but gamely returned the hug.

After an indeterminate amount of time Naruto let him go and gestured grandly to the school and the group of people. "Welcome to Konoha High School! These are my friends! That over there is Sasuke with his girlfriend Sakura," he pointed to a dark haired youth dressed in dark blue shielding a pink-haired girl, "the girl in the white coat is my girlfriend Hinata and she's standing beside Kiba and the dude in the glasses behind him is Shino and the long-haired dude is Neji and the two standing beside him are Tenten and Lee!" He grinned, turning his megawatt smile on him.

Gaara never failed to be amazed at how much Naruto could talk.

Sasuke exploded first. "Are you _insane!?_ That is _Gaara of the freaking Sand._" He stalked over to the two of them.

Naruto pouted. "Well, I guess I don't need to introduce you to them."

Gaara nodded, missing the warmth of Naruto already and reminding himself to get a thicker jacket. He sighed, then looked at the fuming Sasuke. Or he appeared to be fuming; Gaara supposed he could also have winded himself from the walk. It was really hard for him to tell with other people's emotions sometimes.

Sasuke glared at him, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

"Aw, don't be like that! C'mon, it's national hugging day, a day of peace and forgiveness and hugging and stuff. Go on Gaara- hug the bastard!" The hand at Gaara's back gently pushed him forward, toward the now surprised and wary blue-clad teen.

Gaara shrugged and went with it, opening his arms and enveloping the spiky haired boy in a hug. He was always better off following Naruto's advice- and if this backfired he could blame him.

Sasuke tensed and froze, head turning to look at Gaara in shock. Or horror; Gaara still couldn't tell.

After a moment Gaara let him go and turned to look at Naruto for further suggestions.

The grin took up almost all of happily bouncing teen's face and he gestured with his arm to the rest of the group. "I already got them today and warmed them up for ya! Get 'em Gaara!"

There was a squeal and a "HELL NO!" from their direction, and Gaara was sure that suggestion was going to be a moot point before he saw the impressive glare settling on Naruto's face.

"HEY! Don't you guys even _think_ about running, we'll just find you later! Believe it!"

The shuffling stopped, the threat obviously being taken very seriously.

Hinata was the first to step forward, fingers steepled in front of her. She gave him a shy smile and an adoring look to Naruto. "W-well, if Naruto is g-giving you a ch-chance I w-will t-too. H-happy national h-hugging day G-Gaara." She stepped closer and placed her arms around him in a tentative embrace. She smelled faintly of vanilla. She stepped back after a second and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "It's n-nice t-to m-meet you in p-person."

"Hey! I said hugging not kissing! No stealing my girlfriend Gaara, she was mine first- get your own!"

Hinata giggled, unfazed by the mock glare gracing Naruto's face, and walked over to give him a kiss as well.

He grinned again, snaking an arm around her waist. "That's better!"

Sasuke was still standing in the same spot, but now he was blinking at least.

Sakura was the next one to walk over. She huffed, putting her hands on her hips and eyeing him thoughtfully. "Oh, fine. But only because I don't want you two following me the rest of the day, pestering me for a hug!" She took the last step forward and seized him in a rough grip, letting him go after a heartbeat. "Happy national freaking hugging day." As she walked over to Sasuke, who was now starting to twitch, she smacked Naruto upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for? He can't be that bad at hugging!"

She snorted. "He's fine- that was for you not bloody well _warning us_ you freaking idiot!"

"Oh, eh heh heh. Um, sorry?" He rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly at her.

Gaara heard her sigh and looked expectantly at the rest of the group. There seemed to be a game of rock, paper, scissors going on between Kiba and Shino.

Kiba lost, going pale and looking wild-eyed toward Gaara.

"Well, shit. Come on Shino."

Gaara heard a muffled mumble before both strode toward him, Kiba looking resigned (judging by the square set of the shoulders and the blank but focused expression on his face) and Shino… Well, looking like a Shino he supposed. There wasn't any expression to go by and with the glasses it make him impossible to read. He blinked as they stopped in front of him, side-by-side. Kiba raised his arms first.

"Well, come here, red. At least you're cute."

Gaara blinked again and walked obligingly to him, giving a small start when he felt Shino hug him from the side at the same time as Kiba. He heard Naruto chuckle.

The long-haired boy Naruto had introduced as Neji stood his ground, glaring impressively. Gaara made a mental note to try and use that particular look on Kankuro next time his brother was pestering him.

"No. No way in hell Naruto. I thought this was a ridiculous idea in the first place and I want nothing to do with it. Absolutely not. Out of the question. I am not going to hug him." He frowned, brows pulling together as he leveled a lethal glare at Naruto.

"Heh. Really now?" Naruto queried, hands rubbing together gleefully. He was grin was edging on the border of maniacal and was distinctly creepy. Faces should not stretch like that.

Kiba and Shino turned as one to face Neji, letting Gaara go as they turned.

"Well then, Neji my man, I guess that means Gaara will have to hug _you_ then." Kiba cracked his knuckles, his smile echoing Narutos'.

Shino simply stood in place, but gently grasped Gaara's upper arm. "Lee," his voice was surprisingly deep and soft, "hold Neji in place please."

Neji's pale eyes went wide as the taller teen happily acquiesced to Shino and grabbed him, holding him by settling his weight on Neji's shoulders.

"Now Neji, that was not a very youthful thing to say! I'm sure Gaara has no desire to hurt us! He simply wants to hug you!"

"I'd **rather** he hurt me!" Neji squirmed in Lee's hold, but it didn't seem to do him any good.

Shino propelled Gaara forward, toward the now wrestling duo.

"Lee! Let me go! _I don't want a hug!_" His voice was beginning to sound a bit panicked, if the volume and high pitched tone was anything to go by.

The lanky boy just grinned widely, and easily maneuvered Neji into a wrestling hold, Neji's arms now caught up in Lee's over his head. Neji did not look pleased. Actually, he looked quite angry based on the downward tilt of his brows and the thin set of his lips.

Gaara stared at the well-muscled arms holding Neji in place, and as he was pushed forward automatically opened his and wrapped them around the squirming boy- Lee moving his stomach out of the way so Gaara could properly embrace the now frozen Neji.

He began to shake in Gaara's hold and when Gaara released him jerked wildly in Lee's grasp.

"There, see?" Lee asked, releasing Neji. "That wasn't so bad!"

The long-haired teen responded by throwing a punch at him.

Lee _tsked_. "Now Neji, violence does not solve problems!" He ducked and dodged the next few, twisting agilely out of the way.

Neji frowned, eyes narrowing and fists coming up to lash out at Lee again. "No, but damn if it doesn't feel good. Stand still so I can hit you!"

Lee shook his head, black hair swishing from side to side. "I'm afraid I cannot do that Neji. Father will get mad if I come home with a black eye from a fight again."

Tenten, who had been quietly standing off to the side, sidled over to Gaara. "Don't worry, they do that all the time. So, you're Gaara of the Sand huh? You're shorter than I thought you'd be."

Gaara nodded. "I've had many say that to me. It is a common occurrence." He looked over his shoulder at her. She appeared fairly relaxed; shoulders loose, arms dangling at her sides and her facial expression wasn't pinched or frozen in a rictus mask of surprise. He turned his head to look at Sasuke again.

His left eye seemed to be twitching, indicating massive emotional or mental trauma… or a stroke. His left hand was clenching and unclenching itself and he seemed unresponsive to Sakura. Three points for stroke victim.

_I should probably say something._ He mentally debated on it for a moment, then realized this was Naruto's friend and if _he_ was hurt then Naruto was hurt. And since Naruto was his friend, well-

"Naruto?"

The yellow-haired teen turned to him. "Yeah, Gaara? Something wrong?"

Gaara gestured toward the still-twitching Sasuke with his hand. "Your friend is displaying three classic symptoms of a stroke. And the first few minutes are the most crucial for stroke victims."

Naruto blinked then looked over at Sasuke. "Really?"

Gaara nodded, then realizing Naruto wasn't looking at him, voiced his agreement. "Yes."

Everyone had frozen in place by this point in the conversation, and it was Lee who moved over to Sasuke first.

He slowly walked over to the slight teen and gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Sasuke? Can you hear me?"

No response.

Eyes a bit wider than before, Lee addressed him again. "Sasuke," his voice was louder this time, "you're starting to worry us- please say something." His hand was now holding onto the shoulder in a firm grip.

Off to the side Sakura and Hinata both had their cell phones out.

Gaara could just barely hear a muttered mumble from Sasuke.

Lee cocked his head, his rather impressive eyebrows drawing together in concentration as he strained to hear Sasuke.

"What?"

Sasuke twitched again, and voiced himself a little louder: "Narr…uto…mrrr…hurrn…mrgl…"

Lee blinked, keeping his hand on the shorter boys' shoulder in a gentle grip and passed a hand in front of the mumbling teens' face. "Ummm, maybe he IS having a stroke…"

"Goddamn…murrlefurrk…Hugging…dethh…"

"Uh, Sasuke?" Both of Lee's hands were on Sasuke's' shoulders now, Lee's expression harried and worried.

That was about the point Sasuke exploded. His dark eyes flew wide and his body thrummed with repressed energy. He whirled within Lee's grip to point accusingly at Naruto, forcibly held back by the now highly confused Lee. Sasuke _roared._

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU BLONDE IDIOT! THIS CRAZY HOLIDAY IS ALL YOUR FAULT AND YOU GOT **GAARA OF THE FREAKING SAND** IN ON IT! I HAVE **ENOUGH** MENTAL SCARS WITHOUT GETTING HUGS FROM _RANDOMCRAZYPEOPLE!"_

He lunged toward Naruto, breaking away from the shocked Lee, and tackled the surprised blonde to the ground.

Gaara watched impassively, then turned to Tenten. He gestured to the two teens now rolling on the ground, raining punches on each other.

"This is normal as well?"

She winced, raising a hand to rub her temple, much like his sister did when she was frustrated with something (usually Kankuro).

"Yeah," she sighed. "Yeah it is," she breathed out, sounding defeated. "Lee? Could you-?" She gestured again to the whirling dervish that was Naruto and Sasuke.

Lee nodded, apparently over his surprise and took two long strides over to the squabbling black and orange rolling about on the ground. Reaching down he managed to grab the two of them in one go, and hauled them up happily by the backs of their shirts, grinning all the while.

Gaara was impressed, his eyes going wide- all to better watch the glorious play of muscles working under Lee's tight (so wonderfully _tight) _dark green shirt.

"Okay Sasuke, we know you're upset, but you'll have to save your youthful enthusiasm for later- you can practice your hand-to-hand with Naruto **after **school!" Lee happily stated, letting Naruto down after a moment, and waited for Sasuke's agreement.

And Sasuke _glared_.

Lee kept grinning, holding Sasuke up with seemingly no effort and with no indication he was going to let him go any time soon.

And Sasuke caved.

"_**Fine,**_" He huffed, dark eyes still promising utter and absolute pain to Naruto.

Lee's grin got impossibly wider. "Ok then!" and set him gently down.

Tenten spied Gaara's surprised look and giggled. "Practice," she whispered, leaning in close to him. "Lots of practice- they fight a lot." She smiled and Gaara was shocked to see that it was aimed at _him._ "So, how about that hug, eh?" She opened her arms wide in obvious invitation.

Gaara followed his brother's advice, surprised it was actually useful for a change: _"Never say no to a beautiful woman who wants you."_

Temari had seemed rather upset by that particular piece of advice and had lectured them both on why some women couldn't be trusted; but Gaara figured it was ok for today.

He nodded, stepping forward into her embrace.

She smelt like cinnamon and faintly of the Old Spice his bother used, and was almost as warm as Naruto.

When they parted Gaara was greeted with Lee's smiling face and arms stretched wide- pulling the material of his shirt even tighter across his midsection.

Gaara's mouth went dry and he suddenly felt a bit woozy; his brain simply shut down as he kept staring. Distantly he heard Naruto snicker, but focused instead on the striking mass of perfectly proportioned musculature heading in his direction.

"My turn!" Lee chirped, pouncing on Gaara, who was more than a _bit_ distracted by Lee's pectoral muscles.

It was like being engulfed by a furnace- such _heat_ and _strength_. Gaara had never experienced anything like it… and to his own considerable shock found himself _liking_ it. The closest Gaara had ever been to this kind of heat was during the summer, when he would go to the roof of his apartment building and let himself bake in the noonday sun. That was kind of like this… well, not really, but close.

He let his eyes slit in utter pleasure and breathed Lee in, finding himself becoming almost boneless in the taller boys' grasp. Lee smelled like bakers' chocolate, sweat and sun-dried grass. Gaara liked it.

'Hugs' were now on his list of Good Things.

So was Lee.


	4. Beginnings Are Always Hard

Beginnings Are Always Hard…

Like that day so long ago Gaara found himself being dragged along by a talkative Naruto. This time though, he had a tentative group of potential friends following as well.

He could hear them whispering, but as Naruto dragged him past the double doors and into the school he found himself awed and floored by the sheer amount of _people._ Eyes wide he looked around at his now fellow students- his peers.

He wasn't quite sure what to do. He'd never been in a situation that called for much interaction with people, much less thronging crowds of them. They pulsed and moved, chattering voices overwhelming and the sheer mass of them was actually intimidating. He edged closer to Naruto, face outwardly blank, but inwardly utterly unsure and confused.

Maybe this hadn't been a good idea…

Parting the multitude with words, shoves and sheer presence the spiky blonde brought Gaara to his first class of the day, Gaara having taken the same classes as Naruto so it would be simpler on him. As he was tugged into the class he wondered what was going to happen and stared at the fractured groupings of students while they stared back, the room becoming oddly silent.

The whole of Naruto's group moved past them in the deepening silence.

Naruto pulled him forward suddenly to stand beside him properly and waved to the room, large orange sweatshirt jerking with his movements.

"Yo! This is Gaara, he's new here and a good friend of mine, so if you mess with him you mess with me! You guys got that?" he challenged, standing tall and imposing, facing the room.

Silence as the students and Gaara sized each other up, then-

"Where're you from?" A deep voice, rough and loud addressed him first. It came from a bulky boy with brown spiked hair. His eyes were sharp, assessing.

Gaara blinked. "Here- I live in the city."

"Then why haven't we ever seen you before?" This time from a skinny dark-skinned girl, voice high and curious.

"Home schooled."

The questions became a torrent after that.

"That your natural hair color?"

"Where'd you get the tattoo?"

"What's it mean?"

"Why's it on your forehead?"

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Is that eyeliner?"

"How old are you?"

Just about ready to bolt back out the door and away from the rapid-fire questions Naruto's foster father, Iruka Umino, walked in.

The chocolate haired man paused, and set a gentle hand on his shoulder. "That's enough, class. You can ask him later." He turned to them with a warm smile. "Take a seat boys, class is about ready to start."

Grinning, Naruto dragged him out of what Gaara now termed the "firing range" and sat him in a desk near the back; Lee on his left, Naruto on his right, Hinata in front of him, Neji in front of Naruto, Sasuke behind Naruto, Sakura behind him, and Tenten behind Lee.

Gaara blinked again, reaching for his bag and grabbing a binder without looking. _I've been neatly turtled_, he thought, inwardly slightly amused.

Then the sudden, and wholly unexpected, ringing of the bell almost caused him to stab right through his binder with a pencil as he jumped a bit in his seat in surprise.

Naruto snickered at him, hand not muffling the sound at all.

He leveled a lethal glare at him, Not Amused.

Of course this only made him giggle louder- until Sasuke poked him in the back of the head.

"Shut up idiot!" he hissed quietly. "Some of us are trying to learn. Moron."

To that the orange-clad teenager simply turned around and stuck his tongue out at him.

It was nice to know his general demeanor didn't change much when Naruto was around his other friends.

&&&&&&&

The pattern repeated itself in almost every class, (although he did get used to the bell) until lunch later that afternoon.

By that point Gaara was about ready to shoot something out of sheer nerves. He hadn't answered most of the personal questions he'd been asked, and people just _kept asking._ His hands periodically twitched to where he generally kept his Uzi, its comforting weight dearly missed.

He was beginning to develop a tic, and the constant press of bodies was shooting his blood pressure through the roof. Walking into the cafeteria was the last straw.

In most of the classrooms there was only one entrance and the windows mere slits high in the wall- here there were _four_ sets of double doors and an entire _wall_ of windows showing the outside.

He took one look and walked right back inside the halls- Naruto keeping pace with him, casting odd looks in his direction. He kept walking until he reached the boys bathroom, which was thankfully empty, and set his forehead against the cool tile.

The worried teen set a steady hand on his shoulder. "Too much, huh?" he asked softly.

Gaara nodded, grateful the bathroom was empty. "Windows," he said simply, voice quiet and intense. "People. Too many."

He breathed, trying to get his heart rate back under control. Standing still, grateful for the respite, he found himself reaching for his uzi, _again, _as his backpack twitched.

Both he and Naruto took up defensive positions side-by-side in surprise, staring at it. Naruto was the first to speak.

"Ah, dude, your pack is moving _by itself!"_

"I see that." He edged a foot to it and kicked at it lightly, knocking it over.

Waiting, they held their breath as the black bag began to apparently twitch with a purpose, something moving to the top and pushing at the top flap.

Two beady eyes blinked and stared at them, small snout twitching, sniffing the air, and out popped Puggy.

Naruto made an odd squeaking noise. "Is… is that… a hedgehog?! The hell is it doing in your _backpack?!"_ He whirled and pointed accusingly at him.

Green eyes glared back at shocked blue, gazing down as the dark brown hedgehog wandered up to his shoes. Crawling up one Puggy happily nibbled at his shoelaces. He sighed faintly and stared at the content hedgehog.

"Puggy," he intoned, "why were you in my backpack?"

Naruto looked back and forth between the two. "Puggy?" He sounded highly confused.

Gaara nodded, reaching down to pick the little spiky ball up, placing him in an inside pocket of his jacket.

"A gift from Kankuro. Said I should have a pet that resembles me." He opened the pocket to look at the snuffling creature. "I do not look like a hedgehog," he grumbled under his breath, visibly annoyed.

Naruto cracked up, leaning against the wall for support and snickering helplessly. "Dude, you so totally do! Hahahahaa! That's classic!"

Gaara glared, eyes narrowed and stance indicating a severe beat down if the blonde didn't shut up.

Which, of course, Naruto ignored. He did stop laughing after a moment though. "Man, that's funny- didn't even know you had a pet! He's cute!" Wide grin stretching his face he walked over. "Can I hold him?" he asked, hands stretched out and pleading look in his sky blue eyes.

Appraisingly Gaara stared at his hands, then reached into his pocket to grab Puggy and deposit him gently to Naruto. "He bites."

A snort. "Why am I not surprised. Oh hello there! Aren't you a cute little spiky thing!" Naruto cooed at Puggy, who simply sniffed and nibbled at tan fingers. "Aww, who's a cute little spiky ball of death? You are!"

A green eye twitched in annoyance. "You sound like an idiot."

Naruto grinned, walked over and gently stroked Gaara's own spiked up mop. "Aww, you're a cute spiky ball of death too- no need to get jealous!"

Gaara bit at him, Naruto's hand snapping back lightning quick before his teeth could get a hold of it. He glared, green eyes narrowed in warning and folded his arms.

Naruto snickered, scratching hedgehog belly now. Blue eyes watched the roly-poly hedgehog, visibly focused on something.

Pumping a fist into the air and grinning madly Naruto suddenly exclaimed, "I know! We can have lunch on the roof! It's not restricted, just usually really frakkin' hot up there. Would that be cool with you?"

Shoulders relaxing minutely he nodded. "That does sound better- do many others take their lunch to the roof?"

"Naw, most people are too lazy to drag their sorry asses up there. It's a bit of a climb," Naruto explained. He handed Puggy back, gently setting him in Gaara's outstretched hands. "I think it's ok for today, but pets aren't allowed at school- just so you know."

Gaara nodded. "I figured as much. I'm not sure how he escaped his cage in the first place," he clarified, setting the sleepy creature back into his pocket and grabbing his pack. A hand suddenly shot out to the wall for balance as a dizzy spell hit him, and he realized belatedly he'd forgotten to take his medication that morning. Breathing through his nose Gaara waited it out, ignoring Naruto's worried expression and hovering form.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, straightening slowly and blinking blearily. "Forgot my pills this morning apparently."

Giving a sigh of relief the blonde nodded, then frowned. "Do you have 'em on you or do you need to go home?" he asked, worry clear in his voice.

Gaara waved him off, slinging his pack onto his shoulder again. "I have them- I'll be fine once I take them and eat something- it seems that I forgot to do that as well."

Naruto huffed, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Gaara! You should take better care of yourself- no wonder you were so damn twitchy today!" Reaching out he tugged at Gaara's arm, leading him out of the cool bathroom and down the hall to a non-descript door, where Hinata was standing.

She took one look at Gaara and paled a bit, worry sparking in her eyes. "Oh m-my! Are y-you all r-right Gaara? Y-you're so pale!"

She received a mere grunt from Gaara, Naruto already opening the door for them, and turning to Hinata. "He'll be ok, just needs to get away from the crowds and eat something," Naruto answered for him, Gaara already slowly walking up the steps.

Naruto waited until he was out of earshot, then bent down slightly to speak lowly into his girlfriend's ear. "And to take his meds, he forgot 'em this morning- I don't want to leave him alone for long, so could you do me a biiiig favor and-"

He blinked, bemused as Hinata kissed his cheek and nodded, blushing slightly. "I'll go get some water from the cafeteria," she said quietly, stutter gone as she focused. "Do you need me to run interference too?"

Giving her a relieved and thankful look Naruto nodded. "You're a doll- and only for a little bit; too many people right now might give him an even gnarlier panic attack; let 'em come up in ones and twos if you can babe." He hugged her tight, then made his way up the stairs after his slightly-more-stable-than-last-time friend, giving Hinata a grin and a wave.

She waved back, then took off at a trot down the empty hall.

Naruto sighed and made his way up the rest of the stairs in bounds, taking them two at a time, opening the door to find Gaara sitting on the roof and leaning against the stoop with Puggy in his lap, shivering a bit and trying to hide it. Naruto plopped himself beside the smaller male, reaching out to scratch the hedgehog's ear gently after wrapping arm silently around the red head.

Gaara leaned in gratefully, unsure why he felt so cold, and tried to concentrate on his breathing, which had become annoyingly erratic. His vision wasn't doing all that great either- wavering and tunneling in turns, which made him even _more_ dizzy. He made a disgusted sound and leaned against Naruto's warmth. "I need a thicker jacket," he mumbled, eyes half closed.

Naruto rubbed at his shoulder soothingly. "You need to get some more meat on your bones- too damn skinny! You ain't got no fat to help insulate!" he responded cheerfully, keeping the worry out of his voice. He hoped Hinata got here soon…

Another 15 minutes passed by, Gaara slowly getting worse and worse, finally ending up with his arms wrapped around his knees and head tucked in, Puggy rooting around his feet aimlessly, having been slowly 'squished' off the warm lap. Naruto, not having a jacket, had resorted to taking off his own sweatshirt and wrapped it around the small red head, clad now in a plain black t-shirt and both arms wrapped around the shaking figure.

The sound of feminine voices wafted up to them, and the blonde suppressed a groan as he recognized both Sakura and Ino- Sakura's long-time platinum blonde friend and loud-mouthed gossip of the group. Thankfully he heard Hinata's sweet stuttering voice too and felt _some_ relief.

They came into sight, falling silent, two sets of eyes, one green and one blue, going wide as Hinata took one look at the situation and promptly took off her jacket as well, kneeling in front of the two males.

"Here," she offered the water and Naruto grabbed it, unwrapping himself to let her drape her much-warmer jacket around the still trembling teen after taking off the orange sweatshirt.

Rooting around in Gaara's bag Naruto grabbed the correct pills, giving a look to the other two in warning before reading the label and getting the correct amount.

Hinata was now leaning against Gaara's other side, offering her warmth and rubbing his back in smooth circles, worried eyes turning to her boyfriend.

Gaara seemed downright catatonic, and it scared the hell out of the buff blonde. He nudged and coaxed until the pale face raised itself, green eyes hazy and out-of-focus, turning to Naruto's voice. A questioning sound emerged from the pale throat as Naruto unwrapped one hand to press the pills into it, uncapping the water and waiting for the other to put the small capsules into his mouth before handing the bottle over.

"Drink," Naruto ordered in his best Iruka-Dad voice. He found it worked pretty damn well with the unstable teen when he got really weird, and was thankful the tone seemed to get through this time too as Gaara obeyed the command without question.

Sakura and Ino were kneeling in front of the trio by now, Ino chewing her manicured nails nervously as she watched.

Sakura however, was blinking with confusion at Puggy, head tilted and gaze sometimes switching from the hedgehog to Gaara and back again.

Naruto gave a wry chuckle, arm crossing over Gaara's back again and over Hinata's as the red head put his forehead back on his knees after setting the water bottle down. "That's Puggy. He's Gaara's. Cute little bugger isn't he? Bit of a stowaway though- got into the backpack and hitched a ride."

Sakura nodded, reaching out a hand to the curiously sniffing and snuffling waddling bundle of spikes. "Puggy?" she asked quietly, smiling softly when the hedgehog turned to her and moved in her direction, tiny ears pricked forward. Gentle hands picked the small creature up to hold him at eye-level. "He is cute."

Ino scooted forward a bit, blinking wide eyes, pointing at Gaara. "Is… is he okay? Do we need to get the nurse or something?"

Shaking his head Naruto sighed. "Okay, this doesn't leave us- you got that?" Not waiting for their nods he continued. "Look, remember when I started my meds and it was _really_ bad when I missed any, even a day?" He nodded as their eyes lit up with understanding, and a little bit of shock. "Same thing… just… worse I suppose. He's on some pretty nasty stuff and has some pretty nasty problems- one of 'em being panic attacks. And I'm pretty damn sure this is his first time around such a huge crowd of people," he ended on a sigh, free hand rubbing over his scarred face agitatedly.

"So," Sakura said slowly, petting Puggy absently and sitting back on her heels. "He's trying- is that what you're saying Naruto?"

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying," he sighed, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. "He's been _trying_ for oh, two years now I guess." A pause as Naruto gathered his thoughts. "He's a lot like Sai actually. Though painter-boy does better around people I think. More used to 'em I guess."

Both girls gaped. Sai… well, Sai was pretty bad… and if Gaara was _worse…_

"He's not going to ask the guys if they have dicks is he?" Ino asked bluntly, brow raising.

Hinata choked on a snicker, burying her face in Gaara's side to hide her blushing face.

Naruto simply blinked for a moment, then laughed. "Heh! No, I don't think so." He rummaged in Gaara's pack again, bringing out an apple, small bag of carrots, and a peanut-butter sandwich. Sighing he shook his head, glaring at the still out of it red head. "No wonder he's so damn skinny. This isn't lunch, this is a snack!"

Sakura huffed. "Just because he doesn't have a never-ending stomach doesn't mean that isn't a perfectly suitable lunch Naruto!" She blinked as Puggy turned around in her hands and made to jump after the crinkling of the bags, nose twitching and ears perked forward. "Well, Puggy certainly knows what that sound means- I bet he's hungry too."

Ino giggled a bit in amusement and leaned over to pass Hinata her lunch box, a cute little thing decorated with Sailor Moon motifs, opening her own blue lunch box and taking out her simple meal.

Naruto snorted and poked at Gaara, holding the bag of carrots out. "C'mon, eat."

The red head muttered something unintelligible and lifted his head, taking the bag and opening it, leaning back a little before starting to eat.

Puggy, hearing the maddening crinkling noises that meant _food_ squirmed in Sakura's hands, making a soft whining sound. The pink-haired girl cooed back at him in apology, setting her hand on the ground and watching the hedgehog waddle quickly over to Gaara, placing his tiny paws on his shoes.

Gaara blinked, eyes still a bit hazy, and handed a carrot to the obviously hungry Puggy and gave a gentle pat to his tiny head.

Greedily snatching the bright orange carrot Puggy turned around, grabbed the food in his front paws and mouth, and sat back, supported by Gaara's shoe, and held onto the snack with all four paws, eating happily.

"Oh, my God!" Sakura squealed, grabbing her phone and taking a picture. "That is soooo cute!"

Beside her Ino nodded, her own phone out and clicking madly. "Did you teach him that?" she asked, grinning as Puggy ignored them all and continued to eat.

Gaara shook his head slowly. "No. He just started doing it on his own," he replied, voice quiet and thoughtful, tilting his head to watch Puggy blankly.

Naruto shook his head, hearing Hinata's giggle. "Would figure you'd have a freaky pet man," he snorted in good humor, glad Gaara seemed to be doing better.

Hinata poked him for being rude.

Green eyes focused on him for a moment, then Gaara shrugged. "I blame Kankuro. He keeps giving him sugar and snacks that are not meant for hedgehogs." His voice was slightly disapproving. "I keep telling him not to but he ignores me and keeps giving Puggy chocolate. It can't be good for him. It's why he's so fat." His head tilted, red hair falling into his eyes, watching the small creature. "That and he doesn't exercise as much as he probably should."

He reached out and prodded Puggy, eyes focusing a bit better. That little 'attack' had been… less than pleasant, though he felt much better now. Finishing the carrots he offered another to Puggy and set about eating the lunch he'd packed earlier mechanically. Being around other people was… weird. Not in a bad way- but still, very strange.

It took him a while to realize he was wearing someone else's coat, and that two people were leaning against him, helping to keep him warm. Bright green eyes blinked in surprise and he turned his head to look first at Naruto, then Hinata, chewing thoughtfully on his apple.

It was nice, he decided, mentally nodding.

Maybe this 'making friends' thing wasn't as difficult as he'd thought.


End file.
